The 2017 Davis Cup kicks off this weekend with eight exciting World Group first-round ties being held across the globe. From familiar faces to Davis Cup rookies, the 16 teams in action include an attractive mix of the world’s top players and rising stars of the sport. 

ARGENTINA vs. ITALY

Parque Sarmiento, Buenos Aires, Argentina (Clay)

Defending champions Argentina will have the home crowd on its side as they face a tough Italian team in their opening round tie. Argentina leads 2-1 in their Davis Cup head-to-head against Italy.

Juan Martin del Potro remains sidelined due to fitness concerns, but the Argentine team will be led by experienced Davis Cuppers Guido Pella and Carlos Berlocq. Italy will have Paolo Lorenzi and Fabio Fognini flying the flag in singles.

Berlocq is tied 1-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalries with Lorenzi and Fognini. The Argentine ousted Lorenzi at last year’s Roland Garros, but the Italian gained revenge at the US Open. Both matches between Berlocq and Fognini have been held in Argentina, with Fognini prevailing during a 2014 first round Davis Cup tie in Argentina, and Berlocq scoring a win the following year at the Argentina Open.

GERMANY vs. BELGIUM

Fraport Arena, Frankfurt, Germany (Indoor Hard)

Germany has a dominant 8-0 record against Belgium going into this tie, with veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber and #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev leading the way. Belgium is represented in singles by Arthur De Greef and Steve Darcis.

Belgium reached the Davis Cup final in 2015 (l. Great Britain), their first time achieving that feat since 1904. Germany has won three Davis Cup titles (1988, 1989, 1993).

AUSTRALIA vs. CZECH REPUBLIC

Kooyong Stadium, Melbourne, Australia (Hard)

Twenty-eight time champion Australia takes on three-time champion Czech Republic for the ninth time (7-1). Their last meeting came in 2015, which saw the Aussies advance 3-2 in a World Group first-round tie on Czech soil.

Nick Kyrgios, currently No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, and Jordan Thompson will play for Australia in singles and take on Jiri Vesely and Jan Satral. Kyrgios is 4-3 in Davis Cup singles action, while Vesely is 3-6.

Doubles will also play a critical role in the tie, with Grand Slam champions John Peers (w/Sam Groth) and Radek Stepanek (w/Zdenek Kolar) facing off in Kooyong.

UNITED STATES vs. SWITZERLAND

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Birmingham, Alabama (Indoor Hard)

Team USA will not have a familiar doubles squad in Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, with the brothers retiring from Davis Cup competition after 14 years. They’ll still be represented by a solid team that includes four Top 35 players in Jack Sock, John Isner, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson. A mix of new and experienced Davis Cup players headline the Swiss team, with veterans Marco Chiudinelli and Henri Laaksonen joining relatively new players in Adrien Bossel and Antoine Bellier.

The United States shut out Switzerland 5-0 in the most recent meeting between these teams, a 2012 World Group first-round tie that included Isner defeating Roger Federer in four sets on Swiss soil.

JAPAN vs. FRANCE

Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, Japan (Indoor Hard)

This tie will be a battle of youth against experience, with #NextGenATP star Yoshihito Nishioka and Taro Daniel taking on Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon in the singles rubbers. Reigning Wimbledon champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut will also suit up for France in doubles against Yuichi Sugita/Yasutaka Uchiyama.

France leads the head-to-head against Japan 3-0, but they haven’t played since 1981. France has won nine Davis Cup titles, most recently in 2001.

CANADA vs. GREAT BRITAIN

TD Place Arena, Ottawa, Canada (Indoor Hard)

An attractive tie in the Canadian capital city will see teenager Denis Shapovalov and Vasek Pospisil playing singles for Canada as they take on Kyle Edmund and Daniel Evans. The doubles rubber is guaranteed to be a firecracker, with Jamie Murray/Dominic Inglot facing Daniel Nestor/Pospisil.

Great Britain last won the Davis Cup in 2015, giving the team its first title in 79 years. Canada’s best result is a semi-final showing in 2013, matching the feat they accomplished in 1913.

SERBIA vs. RUSSIA

Cair Sports Center, Nis, Serbia (Indoor Hard)

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic leads the Serbian squad on home soil, and is joined in singles by Viktor Troicki. A pair of #NextGenATP players, Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev, will battle for Russia in singles action.

Although Serbia is the on-paper favourite, both Medvedev and Khachanov lead Troicki in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalries 1-0. Medvedev scored a win this past October in Moscow, while Khachanov prevailed this past September in Chengdu.

Russia defeated Serbia 3-2 in the only other Davis Cup meeting between these teams, a 2008 World Group first round tie in Moscow.

CROATIA vs. SPAIN

Gradski Vrt Hall, Osijek, Croatia (Indoor Hard)

Spain, back in the World Group for the first time since 2014, are heavy favourites in this tie with a solid team that includes Pablo Carreno Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut for singles, and Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez for doubles. Franko Skugor and Ante Pavic will look to the home crowd to help lead them to upset victories in singles, while Marin Draganja/Nikola Mektic will do the same in doubles.

Spain has won the Davis Cup five times since 2000, most recently in 2011. Croatia produced an inspired 2016 Davis Cup season to reach the final before narrowly falling to Argentina.

The gruelling heat of the Australian summer produced one of the most iconic, celebrated matches ever, between two of the greatest players (if not the greatest) of all-time in Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Melbourne’s Australian Open couldn’t have dreamed for a better finale, as the 35-year-old Swiss global icon battled past his ferocious, long-time Spanish nemesis and friend in five sets to claim a stunning 18^th Grand Slam title.

And now, with that heart-warming opening to 2017, we motor on with the season as calendars turn to February, with four ATP World Tour 500 tournaments featuring the world’s best leading the way. You’ll be able to watch up to 250 matches (geo-restrictions may apply) live and on-demand on Tennis TV, with all matches available to enjoy in the replays channel across all the different devices which Tennis TV is supported on.

Not a Tennis TV subscriber yet? Get your monthly access today for February.

After three ATP World Tour 250 events in the first week in Montpellier, Sofia and Quito, the 44^th edition of the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam will start on 13 February. Tournament director – 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek – will welcome 14-time major winner Rafael Nadal to the Dutch city, alongside Australian Open semi-finalists Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov.

Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem and Gael Monfils will also be part of a first-class line-up for the year’s first ATP World Tour 500-level event. Martin Klizan is the defending champion, embarking on a surprise, match-point-saving run in 2016 and ultimately beating Monfils in the final. Also in that Rotterdam week are 250 competitions in Memphis and Buenos Aires – where Kei Nishikori will look to grab his first title at the Argentina Open.

Golden Swing hits Rio (20-26 February)

Following the first clay-court event of the season in the Argentinian capital, the Golden Swing arrives in Brazil’s most famous city – Rio de Janeiro. Joining a clay-focused Nishikori in Rio will be last year’s semi-finalist Dominic Thiem. The 23-year-old Austrian plans to jet straight from Rotterdam to play in South America.

Milos Raonic and Juan Martin del Potro head the Delray Beach field in the same week, and unsurprisingly the line-up for the 250 tournament in Marseille is French-dominated. Monfils, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Lucas Pouille will compete at Open 13 Provence. Defending champ Nick Kyrgios will also return to the event where he won his first career ATP World Tour title last year.

Near 24-hour, around-the- clock tennis from Dubai and Acapulco (27 February – 4 March)

Fresh from his glorious Australian Open triumph, Federer will return to action at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where he is a seven-time champion – most recently in 2015. World No. 1 Andy Murray will also play at the 500 tournament in Dubai, which will be his first competition since disappointingly crashing out of Melbourne at the hands of serve-and-volleying Mischa Zverev.

Last year’s winner Stan Wawrinka will be there too, along with Monfils and Tomas Berdych. In the same week, in a far-away time zone, Mexican paradise Acapulco will host the likes of Nadal, Raonic, Thiem, del Potro and David Goffin. Thiem captured the biggest title of his young career there last year.

Get your monthly access pass to Tennis TV today and don’t miss up to 12 tournaments and up to 250 matches live in February! The live tennis certainly doesn’t stop coming after February, with massive, back-to-back ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in March. In a first for Tennis TV, all ATP World Tour singles and doubles matches will be streamed live from these two events with all matches available on demand in replays on all devices.

They say everything is bigger in Texas. The tennis is no different and NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki and NFL star Ty Montgomery have taken notice. The sports stars visited the RBC Tennis Championships of Dallas, a prestigious $125,000 event on the ATP Challenger Tour, this week.

Attending his first tennis event at any level, Montgomery was immediately hooked. The star running back of the American football juggernaut Green Bay Packers was made an instant fan of #NextGenATP stars Reilly Opelka, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz, visiting the T Bar M Racquet Club on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Ty was really cool,” Opelka told ATPWorldTour.com. “Today was his first time watching tennis live and it seemed like he enjoyed it. It’s cool to have a guy like him in the stands watching and supporting. I remember just a few weeks ago all the Americans were going crazy in the Australian Open locker room watching the Packers against the Cowboys. Ty had a huge game that day too, scoring two touchdowns. We all watched it live from Australia.”

Cool having @TyMontgomery2 at the courts today! #GoPackGo #ShirtGame? pic.twitter.com/AFI0rghp6T

— Reilly Opelka (@ReillyOpelka) January 31, 2017

Watch Interviews: Opelka | Tiafoe

Montgomery, impressed with the games of the American teens, took to social media during their matches. He stayed the entire day on Wednesday, watching Fritz and Tiafoe advance to the quarter-finals and fellow Stanford University alum Scott Lipsky in his first-round doubles match.

A young king right here?? @FTiafoe it was a pleasure getting to watch you. Making me a tennis fan pic.twitter.com/IB7EBvcDKe

— Ty Montgomery (@TyMontgomery2) February 2, 2017

Got to meet and hangout with some super cool tennis superstars @Taylor_Fritz97 and @ReillyOpelka ?

— Ty Montgomery (@TyMontgomery2) January 30, 2017

Appreciate the love from @TyMontgomery2 in Dallas means a lot you coming out to watch last couple days enjoy Houston man #wishicouldcome

— Frances Tiafoe (@FTiafoe) February 2, 2017

Meanwhile, Dallas Mavericks forward Nowitzki, a lifelong tennis fan and yearly fixture at the Challenger events in Dallas and Irving, watched countryman and close friend Benjamin Becker in action on Tuesday. Becker is a local resident and graduate of nearby Baylor University.

Daniel Evans is a slow burn that has spectacularly caught fire.

The British No. 2 boasts a career-high Emirates ATP Ranking of No. 45 this week, thanks to an impressive run Down Under in January. Evans earned his first career Emirates ATP Rankings points more than 10 years ago, back in November 2006, and was outside the Top 250 just 14 months ago.

The 26 year old from Birmingham, England, is 7-2 in 2017. He reached his first career final at the Apia International Sydney and the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the Australian Open. Along the way, Evans defeated five Top 50 players, including No. 7 Marin Cilic, No. 8 Dominic Thiem and No. 27 Bernard Tomic.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Evans’ recent rise pinpoints a definitive improvement with his return game and showcases how he’s being far more opportunistic converting break points.

2016 To 2017 Return Strategy Comparison

The strategic category that has fueled his career-best ranking is converting break points, which has jumped 13 percentage points from 39 per cent in 2016 to a world-beating 52 per cent (34/65) so far this year. That even eclipses Australian Open champion Roger Federer, who converted 44 per cent (37/84) of his break-point opportunities in winning seven straight matches at Melbourne Park.

The ATP Stats LEADERBOARDS, powered by the Infosys Information Platform, shows Evans to be No. 1 in the world so far in 2017 in converting break points among players who have had 50-plus break-point opportunities.

Those metrics have directly helped the Brit raise his return game win percentage from 20 per cent to 25 per cent. It’s interesting to note that service games won have only improved one percentage point, from 80 per cent to 81 per cent, during the same period.

It’s always difficult to improve against an opponent’s more powerful first serve when returning, so Evan’s two percentage-point gain (28 per cent to 30 per cent) in this area is more impressive than it seems on the surface. The five percentage-point leap on second-serve points won (47 per cent to 52 per cent) is significant as it jumps above the 50 per cent threshold, essentially providing Evans statistical ownership of his opponent’s second serves.

There have also been some impressive numbers for Evans on the serving side of the equation. Evans hit only 95 aces during the 2016 season, and he is already at 55 after just two tournaments in 2017, representing 58 per cent of his 2016 total.

Last season he saved 70 per cent of break points when he made his first serve and a very high 60 per cent behind his second serve, which was actually four percentage points better than fellow countryman and World No. 1 Andy Murray, at 56 per cent.

Evan’s ranking is set to climb even higher this month, as he has only 60 points to defend from February 2016. He is playing at a Top 20 level so far in 2017, and it may not be too long before his ranking catches up with his scintillating level of play.

More: Evans Picks Out Winning Style In Melbourne